The present invention relates to an electrical connector and in particular to electrical connectors having terminals with insulation displacement contacts.
Insulation displacement contacts are well known in the art. One example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,096, which shows a contact with adjacent tongues which are staggered slightly relative to each other. A double contact is provided through the use of four tongues. If the contact between the cable and the tongues is lost with one set of tongues, there is still possible contact with the other set of tongues. In order to make the tongues sufficiently rigid, both as regards bending in a direction moving the tongues apart and as regards bending of the tongues in the direction of the central axis of the cable, the tongues are made relatively wide. This does, however, mean that limits are set for the distance or pitch between adjacent conductors of a flat cable since the conductors may be touched only by the contacts intended for them, which is determined by the width of the tongues.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,984 disclosed another insulation displacement contact which comprises a single flat sheet part provided with projecting tongues which are folded over at their end so that a U-shape is obtained.